The term Florida Western is used to describe a small number of films and literary works set in the 19th century, particularly around the time of the Second Seminole War.
Not a significant number of these films have been made, as most Hollywood and other genre Westerns are usually located in other regions of the United States, particularly the former frontier territories of "the West".
It was during the 1950s that most of these films were produced and many included a fictional and stereotypical portrayal of the real life Seminole leader, Osceola, who resisted American expansion into Florida during the late 1830s.
The film Distant Drums (1951), which was one of the earliest Florida Westerns made, even changed his name to Oscala and portrayed him as a malevolent savage, filled with a constant bloodlust who fed living prisoners to alligators.
The producers of Distant Drums even used the historic Castillo de San Marcos fort as a backdrop for the story.